Gift Baskets

"Food is nurturing, food can always be shared, and there are no wrong sizes or colors," says Sheila Shechtman, owner of Giftcorp in Hartford, a gift-basket business.

If you still have a couple of question marks after names on your gift list, don't panic. Local specialty shops will fill a gift basket with every vision of sugarplum imaginable, from made-in-Connecticut Chocolate Lace to Swedish limpa bread and roasted butternut squash ravioli. Local food specialty shops will do the cooking and wrap your holiday treats for you.

Pack a gift bag at the New England Pasta Co. in Avon with two pounds of homemade cut-to-order noodles, freshly simmered sauce, cheese grated on the spot, coal-oven bread and biscotti cookies for a savory $15 feast. Or choose other treats for a gift basket, and co-owners Kim and Scott Morrison will wrap it in one of their seven Christmas or Hanukkah cellophanes.

At the Connecticut Creative Store in Hartford, choose items such as chocolate lace from the shop named for this confection in Bethel, chocolate fudge sauce from Matthew's 1812 House in Cornwall Bridge, scone mix from the Sundial Gardens in Higganum, maple syrup from Lamothe's Sugar House in Burlington, apple bacon from Nodine's Smokehouse in Torrington and preserves from farms across the state. . Indulge daring colleagues with Nip 'N Tang sauce from Snydi-Idi's in South Windsor, cranberry-ginger relish from Giff's Originals in Cheshire or Bombay sauce from Otwell's Specialty Foods in Hartford. The shop, housed in the state Department of Agriculture office on Asylum Avenue, is brimming with exceptional products made in Connecticut, and all proceeds help to promote local small food companies.

Create a Blazin' Chili basket fired with chili, gourmet soups and chips at the Wild Raspberry in Cromwell, where owner Beth Godston has custom-made baskets for 13 years. She has suggestions for "Sweet Surrender" baskets, "Corporate Munch Line" baskets with on-the-spot edibles, and breakfast baskets bearing maple-syrup snowmen and jam spreaders with purple-winged-Santa handles.

Siv Harvey is stocked for her 38th season at the Scandinavian Gift Shop in Ellington with cardamom bread, coveted cardamom seeds and other Scandinavian specialties such as herrings, cheeses and anchovies. Other treats are limpa Limpa bread, German stollen or Swedish Marabou milk chocolate.

For java votaries, the Coffee Trade in Avon carries 50 coffees, including the much-sought-after Jamaican Blue Mountain beans. Tea drinkers will revel in a plethora of cherished leaves from Republic of Tea, Taylor and Harrogate, Ashby of London and Harney and Son in Salisbury. You can even select antique cups and saucers to tuck into your basket for dear friends. The Coffee Trade also carries novelties such as chocolate-covered peppermint sticks, a bucket Bucket of Coal filled with chocolate bonbons or a combination of hot cocoa, a chocolate spoon and marshmallows.

Chocolate-covered popcorn named Moose Munch and chocolate pretzels rival each other in popularity at Harry and David's in the Westfarms mall in West Hartford, says Lynn Przygocki. She helps customers make holiday baskets with unusual foods, such as fried peas and dried cantaloupe.

Say Cheese in Simsbury and Say Cheese, Too in West Hartford have everything from duck a l'orange to goat cheeses, plus crackers, slicers and books on how to serve cheeses from around the globe.

Shechtman at Giftcorp buys gourmet foods by the truckload for her large-volume business for corporate clients, she says. The hundreds of products she carries at Giftcorp are nonperishable and ready for immediate consumption, so there is no food preparation, she says. Similar pre-packaged items are available at many area shops to serve in a basket at an office party or your own festive gathering. Giftcorp will also include custom-marketing, using company logo mugs or shirts in gift baskets.

Most specialty shops have decorative baskets, boxes, bags, tissues, ribbons and holiday cellophane to decorate your gifts. They will work within your individual budget, take requests by phone, fill corporate orders and ship your selection. Many customers suggest a price point and let the shop owners fill the basket, says Dick Portfolio at the Coffee Trade.

"We'll try to put in as much product as we can. People really like variety," he says.

With abundant succulent treats for holiday baskets, the hardest part will be parting with your scrumptious gift when you're done.